Global Challenge Journey.
 1. GLOBAL CHALLENGE |  2. WHY WATER? |  3. PROJECT PLANNING |  4. MARKET RESEARCH |
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 5. REQUIREMENTS |  6. SANITARY TESTING |  7. PUMP IT UP! |  8. MODELING |
 9. MARKETING STRATEGY |
Modeling and testing
At this point we began with preliminary models which described the working of our water filter. This process was filled with discussions and considering various ideas. The end product of this is shown in the image to the right.
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During this time construction on the pump was begun, and testing of its capabilities was also conducted.
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Finally the team decided that due to the lack of time we would not be able to deliver on a fully functional, small, as to our design a final product, therefore we decided to stick to making a larger model with a bigger pump as proof of concept and have the model 3D printed and shown off as what our end goal would look like when it will be completed.
Marketing strategy
Our main marketing strategy is to provide the disaster relief areas and the foundations with a free filter for every purchase made by the consumer section.
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We also plan to sell to these foundations at a fraction of the cost so it can be used to help the most people around the world.
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The complete strategy can be found here.
REQUIREMENTS
After deciding our goals from the research phase we moved on to designing the product, we wanted to come up with clear requirements that would help us with the design process. These were decided using the MoSCoW system as used previously in the project. This breaks down the product into the following criteria.
As it can be seen there weren't any Would criteria that we wanted to do for this product. It is with this information clear that we set out to designing the filter and coming up with some initial concepts on paper so we can share this information with the experts that we planned to interview, which was the next thing that we began working on.
The main factor of making the filter work is the pumping mechanism which we researched to find that they are quite expensive when compared to the rest of the system.
We had a certain figure with the requirements for the amount of pressure these pumps would have to provide which were based on the fact that the filters require that in order to operate optimally.
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After we failed to find a sufficient pre made solution for the pump we decided to make one of our own following an online guide which uses cheap materials, namely, pumping PVC tubing along with other household materials to make a hand pump.
Pump it up
Testing sanitary conditions
At Fontys we have a microbiology and chemistry labs which are used by the students following the relevant courses, we decided to seek their help in order to establish some form of testing to prove that our water was safe for consumption.
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We also decided to visit the KWR which is a research institution based in the Netherlands for inspiration about testing water and to get some feedback from them about our idea. This is covered extensively in the blog section about visits.
Project planning
For the prediction of future events and occurrences a project planning is necessary, this plan was made by the project leader taking into consideration every aspect of the project, as well as extra time in case something goes wrong.
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The team roles were also discussed and divided among the group based on what the members wanted to do.
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This information is provided here on the website as an excel document which can be downloaded following the link below.
Market research
Before coming up with our own design and mechanism for a filtration system, market research was done to compare ourselves to what was out there .
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During the research phase a method which was starting to gain momentum in the water filtration world, this method allowed for filtration of salt and bacteria by using specialized membranes which have microscopic holes in them. This method is known as reverse osmosis and it was something that we wanted to work with as the cornerstone for our product as the product could be small and very 3D printable when using reverse osmosis. (Further information and sources can be found here).
The team additionally found several other filters which were much more expensive than what we were aiming for, the cheapest one that we could find was at least 700 Euros, while we are aiming for the 100-200 Euro market.
GLOBAL CHALLENGE
Starting of this project we are going to take a look at each global challenge and see what the exact problems are. From there we are going to focus on one global challenge and the problems within that global challenge. These problems lead to possible solutions we can offer with our second product.
We are very excited to start this challenge and develop a product that will help solving global challenges!
Why Water?
After two weeks of careful research and consideration we came to the conclusion that we would like to work on water as our global challenge.
The criteria that we used for selection of this was primarily, how many people could we effect with our contribution, what are the current efforts being done in this area and if there was room for improvement.
While researching some of the other global challenges we found a similarity between the lack of drinking water as well as global disaster relief, as majority of the disasters caused globally were related to water, such as floods, hurricanes, tsunamis etc. Therefore we considered that we would be, in essence, satisfying two global challenges while targeting the water related problems.
